Castle Combe played host to thousands of people attending Japfest on Saturday 14th May. Karen and Richard attended the event with the rest of the TenguDo Motorsport team. Martin's #29 car and Karen's #14 car were on display in the Cymraeg Scoobie Club stand when not taking advantage of the track.

Karen started off carefully, nursing the rusty discs and new pads before pressing on harder. She enjoyed her track sessions and was getting a much better feel for a track she'd not driven on for several years. She was also getting used to the feel of the new clutch and quickshift combination. In her last session, the belt for the Power Assisted Steering snapped and this forced her to retire early. However, this is an easy fix and proved useful as replacement should prevent this happening during the races on Bank Holiday Monday 30th May.

Except for a few sponsor and safety stickers, Karen's car is now complete and ready to race at Castle Combe on Bank Holiday Monday 30th May. The car will undergo a shakedown during track sessions at Japfest (also being held at Castle Combe) on Saturday 14th May.

This will allow Karen to re-acquaint herself with the car, the new quickshift and the new paddle-clutch. Neither of these have been used in anger as yet. Karen will also be able to re-affirm her lines on the circuit ready to race there a couple of weeks later.

Many thanks to sponsors TenguDo Motorsport for supplying and fitting a six-point OMP FIA approved rollcage with doorbars and an additional harness bar. We're really happy with the considerate and excellent work done. In addition, the TenguDo crew collected and re-delivered the car to our door. Now that's what I call service!

About Karen Phillips

Karen races her Impreza WRX in the Nippon Challenge, a race series for Japanese and Asian cars. Karen has now been racing since 2006, having started in the MR2 Challenge.

Please check this site regularly for updates on Karen's progress through the season and developments with her race car.